Rt.8 has been a pathway to the north seemingly forever. It roughly follows the Venango Trail, used by Native Americans. George Washington used it in 1753. It started out as a dirt path, then became a muddy wagon trail, in places a plank road and then eventually got paved starting in the early 1900’s. Now it is often 4 lanes wide.
Especially near the bigger cities, it is lined with car dealers, shopping malls, small discount stores and gas stations! Further north, the road narrows and houses and farms start becoming the major scenery. The country views are great, pastures, barns, and row after row of corn.
As I drive along this road, and the other roads of the state, one of the things I look for is the buildings that were left to simply decay. I look for houses with their doors ajar, windows broken and ivy attempting to hide the buildings from our view. The wooden buildings have their paint stripped from them by the sun, leaving only grey exteriors. There are cars, trucks and farm equipment rusting away in their yards and fields.
These are the things I watch for and it is their absence that saddens me. An old fruit stand covered with greenery, with parts of its façade hanging down may not interest many, but to me it’s a landmark. Being a visual person, it’s a spot that shows me how far I’ve gone or have to go. I find it tough to see when a barn or old farmhouse has burnt down or was razed to make room for a new store or a housing plan filled with cookie cutter homes.
Abandoned buildings often have a sort of raw beauty to them. Nature has a way of beautifying a broken building. Of course, this is only my opinion. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. To the neighbors or the owners, it could be considered an eyesore.
I may drive past these places once or twice a year. They are only landmarks for my travels, yet I’ve come to know them, I look forward to seeing them. I feel hurt when they are gone. As I get older, I notice so many of these places are disappearing. Every trip we take, I see something else that is gone. BUT, I also see new things to watch for on future trips! It is inevitable, change is a constant!
This Thursday, Ann Marie, Jim and I went for another ride, heading north on rt.8 to the town of Franklin, the county seat of Venango. We started at a farm market where we purchased a couple apples and some donut holes.
Ten or twenty miles later we stopped at a favorite coffee shop in Butler, for a caffeine refill. We visited a cemetery and a small park to look for geocaches; it was a typical day cruise.
Nearing Franklin, we detoured a bit to see a covered bridge. It sits almost directly under rt.8 but to get to it requires some back road travel. When we arrived, I was shocked to see that the covered bridge was gone and in its place was a generic concrete bridge.
Some research revealed that the original bridge was built in 1907; the covered portion was added in 1990. The bridge wasn’t in the best of shape. In 2023 it was closed, torn down and replaced with this “beautiful” concrete travesty.
The old bridge was beautiful in its own way. There is nothing special about the new bridge. Now, there is no reason to make the drive into the valley, at least for me. I came across the bridge originally because there was a geocache hidden near-by. Now… the bridge has become just a memory.
We ate our lunch in Franklin and walked around the town for a bit. We refilled out coffee cups at another favorite coffee shop before returning to the road.
We headed west towards rt.19. On our way we passed what we guessed was an old brick schoolhouse. It sat in a field of weeds, with vines covering the front door. Boards protected the windows and prevented trespassing; it looked old. The porch was missing but the cut stone foundation looked solid. A broken water pump sat behind it. I wonder how many people might have drank from that pump. A metal roof had been put on it awhile ago, so there is someone that is caring for it, I hope!
Nineteen miles away we came across another schoolhouse. It looked very similar to the building we just left. This was the London School, built on 1861. Besides being a school it also was a gift shop and an antique shop for awhile. It has been empty for quite a few years. It sits on property that is owned by Walmart. Hopefully this historic building will still be standing the next time we go by!
Reaching rt.19, we turned south heading towards Zelienople and eventually home. We made a quick stop in Harlansburg to take some pictures of the RR cars that sit near the road. The Museum of Transportation had been housed here in a replica train station and the railroad cars, sadly it has closed. On a previous trip, Ann Marie and I had the pleasure of visiting it and talking with the owner. He had a tremendous collection and was a very interesting man to talk with. Both he and his museum will be missed. I can’t help but wonder how much longer these cars will remain here. They are definitely showing their age! There used to be four of them, now there are only three…
We drove through Zelienople, Harmony, Evans City and Mars before returning home about 8 hours after we left. Thankfully, most of the landmarks I was watching for were still standing, for the time being. It was another great day to go out and explore Western Pennsylvania, but then again, every day is!
